Islanders go down to wire

Share via e-mail

Martha’s Vineyard, down by 12 points late in the fourth, appeared headed for a loss to visiting Nantucket Saturday afternoon. But thanks to a pair of Alec Tattersall touchdown passes in a four-minute span, the Vineyarders walked away 27-26 victors and Island Bowl champions.

The comeback started when Tattersall, with his team trailing, 26-14, followed a fourth-and-15 conversion with a 50-yard touchdown toss to Brandon Watkins with 4:13 left.

After the Martha’s Vineyard defense forced the Whalers (4-7) to go three-and-out, Tattersall marched his squad down the field again. The result was a go-ahead seven-yard pass to Joe Turney. The Vineyarders (7-4) failed on the 2-point PAT, but with just 20 seconds on the clock it mattered little.

Tattersall wrapped up his day with 222 passing yards on a 12-for-26 effort. In addition to his winning touchdown catch, Turney also rushed for two touchdowns and 75 yards on four carries.

Martha’s Vineyard also got a trio of key performances on defense. Mike Cutrer, who was 3 for 3 in extra-point attempts, also led the defense with 15 tackles, while Kyle Stobie and Tony Canha added 11 and 10, respectively.

Nantucket was the story for much of the game, due in part to Dylan Perry’s big day. The senior running back opened the scoring with an 88-yard dash in the first quarter and later added a 5-yard scamper to again give the Whalers the lead.

Division 3

Nonleague

Randolph 19, Burke 8 — Isaiah Miles ran for 126 yards and two touchdowns on just eight carries to lead the Blue Devils, who finished their season at 3-8.

NEPSAC

Dan Rorke Bowl

St. Luke’s 28, Hyde (Conn.) 26 — Noel Thomas scored three touchdowns and the St. Luke’s defense stopped Hyde’s 2-point conversion run on the last play of the game in the Dan Rorke Bowl in West Hartford.

Central Mass.

Colonial

Bay Path 39, Worcester Tech 22 — The Minutemen rolled to a 32-7 halftime lead and let the reserves take over for most of the second half. Senior quarterback Kyle Thibeault was 6 of 10 for 235 yards, including a 45-yard touchdown pass to senior tight end Ray Neeland in the second quarter. Thibeault also ran 1 yard for the next TD. Bay Path senior running back John Vidal rushed for 39 yards on seven carries and a touchdown and also recovered a fumble.

BostonGlobe.com complimentary digital access has been provided to you, without a subscription, for free starting today and ending in 14 days. After the free trial period, your free BostonGlobe.com digital access will stop immediately unless you sign up for BostonGlobe.com digital subscription. Current print and digital subscribers are not eligible for the free trial.

Thanks & Welcome to Globe.com

You now have unlimited access for the next two weeks.

BostonGlobe.com complimentary digital access has been provided to you, without a subscription, for free starting today and ending in 14 days. After the free trial period, your free BostonGlobe.com digital access will stop immediately unless you sign up for BostonGlobe.com digital subscription. Current print and digital subscribers are not eligible for the free trial.